Capital Facts for Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abu Dhabi flagWith a skyline featuring a 35-storey Capital Gate building which leans 18 degrees (compared to just 3.97 degrees for the Leaning Tower of Pisa), Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE is located at the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula in the Persian Gulf.

Mercer’s 2016 Quality of Living Survey for cities ranks Abu Dhabi in 81st place–second-highest overall ranking for quality of life among African and Middle Eastern cities trailing only Dubai–UAE’s most populous city. The annual survey compares 230 cities from around the globe based on 39 factors including political, economic, environmental, personal safety, health, education, transportation and other public service factors.

Abu Dhabi is the African and Middle Eastern region’s most highly rated city on the personal safety factor, finishing as the 23rd safest city worldwide. New York City is used as the benchmark for all comparisons.

In 2017, Abu Dhabi placed first on the Numbeo Safety Index which compares the psychological perception of residents on how safe they are from crime.

The UAE exported an estimated US$149.5 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2016. Over half of all UAE exports are oil and petroleum gas. The highest value UAE exports also include gold, petroleum gas, diamonds, unwrought aluminum, ethylene polymers and jewelry according to the International Trade Centre.